Transport container system for goods, especially for fruit and vegetables

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a transport container system which is especially suitable for transporting goods such as fruit and vegetables. Said system comprises an optionally collapsable crate, and has a bottom part and four lateral wall parts that are structured in a pressure-resistant manner, and a top part for enlarging the volume of the transport container. Said top part is formed in such a way that it is complementary to the crate opening formed by the lateral wall parts of the crate, and can be placed on the upper side of said lateral wall parts. Said crate and said top part of the transport container system can be detachably engaged in such a way that the transport container system can be stacked.

The present application is a Divisional Application under 35 U.S.C. §121 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/560,487, filed 22 Feb. 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a transport container system, inparticular for goods, that has a stackable transport container,preferably a crate. The stackable transport container can be foldable ornon-foldable. Such crates are known and are used in particular fortransporting goods such as fruits and vegetables. In the framework ofthis invention, goods are understood to be units of goods to betransported comprising individual items with a size of at least 0.5-1.0cm.

The foldable and non-foldable transport containers that are alreadyknown for fruits and vegetables comprise cardboard, wood, or plastic.The foldable transport containers are characterized in that theirlateral wall parts can be moved against the interior bottom of thetransport container, this achieving a decrease in the volume of thetransport container when it is empty. When unfolded, the lateral wallparts are at a 90° angle to the interior bottom and are detachablyengageable with one another using various means. While the bottom of thenon-foldable or of the foldable transport container has a defined size,there are containers with lateral wall parts of different heights forattaining different transport volumes, whereby two or four lateral wallparts have the same height. Furthermore, the lateral wall parts have onthe upper side facing away from the bottom a profile or an apparatusthat renders the transport container stackable. The transport containerspreferably have corner stiffeners for increasing the stability of thenon-foldable and foldable transport containers, in particular withrespect to stackability. The previously known transport containers havea maximum volume capacity that is determined by the size of the bottomand the height of the lateral wall parts. When larger volume capacitiesare required for the transport containers, the transport containers mustbe provided with other, higher lateral wall parts. Thus, rapidadaptation of the volume capacity of the transport containers tochanging user requirements is only conditionally provided.

The size of certain types of fruits and vegetables varies from season toseason, depending on different factors for instance during the growthperiod. The size of the fruits and vegetables to be packed isestablished by regulations of the European Community. One known problemduring transport of goods such as fruits and vegetables thus resultsfrom the varying size of the goods to be transported for optimum fillingof transport containers. In order to be able to take into accountvarying requirements for goods, the transport containers, in particularcrates, are machine-manufactured in specific sizes that can also bespecified by the production facility or can be established by theselection of the production parameters. It is therefore not possible torapidly change the size of the transport container and thus its volumecapacity in the sense of optimum filling depending on the size of thegoods without major logistical transport problems occurring or a complexchange in the production facility and associated high costs.

The problem cited in the foregoing particularly occurs with the knowntransport containers when cardboard packages that are comparativelysimple to produce and that are for the transport of goods such as fruitsand vegetables are replaced by more environmentally-friendly reusablecontainers that are made of plastic or a similar material suitable forthis use but that are also expensive to produce. For the known reusablecontainers made of plastic, optimum adaptation of the transportcontainers to the size of the goods to be transported proves to beparticularly complex and difficult. In order to attain maximum use oftransport apparatus, the transport containers are stackable so that aplurality of these containers can be transported in containers, onloading beds of trucks, in freight trains, or on similar transportapparatus. The item to be transported must not project out over theupper edge of the transport container, since then the transportcontainer would no longer be stackable and/or the item would be damaged.What this results in is that the volume capacity of the known transportcontainers in many cases cannot be used optimally.

Applicant's reusable transport containers, which are called “round tripcontainers” in the industry, are available in approximately tendifferent embodiments that are distinguished by the height of thelateral wall parts. The height of the lateral wall parts varies from 8to 28 cm, whereby preferably used are heights of 8, 10, 13, 15, 16, 18,20, and 23 cm. The bottom of these transport containers is preferablyrectangular and has an exterior dimension of 600 mm×400 mm. This meansit corresponds to the bottom dimensions of standardized EURO and USpalettes.

The object of the present invention is to design a transport containersystem such that it is possible to rapidly and variably adapt the volumecapacity of transport containers to the varying sizes of the goods to betransported and thus optimum filling of the transport containers ispossible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One inventive transport container system is distinguished by a stackabletransport container, in particular a crate, that comprises a bottom andfour lateral wall parts that are structured to be stable under pressure.The stackable transport container is foldable or non-foldable.Furthermore, the transport container system includes a top or extenderthat makes it possible to enlarge the volume capacity of the transportcontainer. The top itself comprises four lateral wall parts that areplaced in a shape-conforming manner over the crate opening and isproduced from cardboard, plastic, wood or a similar suitably stablematerial. These materials can advantageously be provided with animpression, labeling, or another marking that preferably facilitatesrecognition, registration, or particularly preferred advertisingpurposes. One special advantage results from the production of the topsfrom natural products such as for instance wood or cardboard that makeit possible to dispose of the tops at the delivery site for the goods,so that there are no costs for returning the tops to the sellinglocation.

Another advantage of the invention results from the fact that thelateral wall parts of the tops can be produced with different heights,so that the volume capacity of the transport container is optimallyadapted to the variable size of the goods to be transported, inparticular fruits and vegetables. The height of the lateral wall partsof the top is preferably 2-8 cm, particularly preferred 3-5 cm. At leasttwo approximately parallel lateral wall parts preferably have the sameheight; particularly preferred all four lateral wall parts are equal inheight.

The lateral wall parts of the top that conform in shape to the transportcontainer can preferably detachably engage with the transport containerusing fastening means. The fastening means are preferably attached toand can detachably engage with the top and transport container. It isparticularly preferred that the top or the transport container has afastening means that detachably engages with the transport container orthe top. The top preferably locks to an area of the lateral wall part orbottom of the transport container. Suitable for fastening means are inparticular all means that provide a detachably engageable connectionbetween transport container and top such as eyes, hooks, screwconnections, etc. The transport container and the top are preferablydetachably engageable using external fastening means that are notpermanently attached to the transport container system, such as clamps,clips, etc. These fastening means advantageously prevent the top frombeing displaced relative to the transport container so that the goodscontained in the transport container systems are not damaged. Anotheradvantage of detachable engagement of the top with the transportcontainer is that the top can be removed from the transport containerwith no problem at the destination site for the goods to be transportedand thus there is a decrease in volume for the emptied transportcontainer. This is particularly advantageous when using reusabletransport containers.

The wall strength of the lateral wall parts of the top is preferablyselected such that the transport container systems filled with the goodsto be transported are stackable. The stackability of the transportcontainer systems is preferably promoted by four lateral wall parts ofthe top that have the same height and that in particular it candetachably engage with the transport container and particularlypreferred by a profile on the upper side of the top that preferablyconforms with a profile or auxiliary profile on the underside of thebottom of the transport container. The profiles of top and transportcontainer advantageously facilitate stacking the transport containersystems and prevent the systems from shifting during transport.Therefore additional securing of the preferably stacked transportcontainer systems is not necessary during transport. This contributesadvantageously to maximum utilization of the volume of transportapparatus without damaging the goods to be transported.

The top can preferably be collapsed to a narrow strip, in particularusing folding sites at the four corner edges. One advantage is the lowtransport volume of tops that have been folded up, which facilitatesoptimum use of transport means since the tops frequently have to betransported across great distances to the packaging areas for the goods,in particular harvesting regions for fruits and vegetables, and in thecase of reusable tops back to the selling locations.

The frame-shaped top preferably has corner stiffeners for increasingstability. An increase in stability is furthermore attained inparticular in that the top comprises one piece and is created byconnecting the free ends of a band-shaped lateral wall part orparticularly preferred is embodied as an extrusion profile.Alternatively, the frame-shaped top is formed by connecting the freeends of individually produced lateral wall parts.

Additional application options and advantages of the present inventionresult from the following description with respect to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a: is a perspective elevation of one embodiment of the inventivetransport container system;

FIG. 1 b: is a schematic representation of the foldable transportcontainer and the foldable top;

FIG. 2: is a perspective of a profile-conforming top;

FIG. 3 a: is an exemplary embodiment of a fastening means attached tothe top;

FIG. 3 b: is an exemplary embodiment of a fastening means attached tothe transport container;

FIG. 4 a: illustrates the top when folded;

FIG. 4 b illustrates the top in frame shape with corner stiffeners;

FIG. 5: is a perspective elevation of a profile-conforming top;

FIG. 5 a: is a view of a longitudinal side of a profile-conforming topwith fastening means;

FIG. 5 b: is a view of a transverse side of a profile-conforming topwith fastening means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 a is a perspective representation of an embodiment of aninventive transport container system 10. The transport container system10 illustrated in FIG. 1 a comprises a non-foldable or foldabletransport container 20 and a top 30. The transport container 20 of theinventive transport container system 10 has a rectangular bottom 13 andtwo largely parallel lateral wall parts 11 and 11 a as well as twolargely parallel lateral walls 12 and 12 a. The lateral wall parts 11,11 a, 12, 12 a are foldable relative to the interior surface of thebottom 13 of the transport container 20, as illustrated in FIG. 1 b.

FIG. 1 a illustrates a non-foldable or the unfolded condition of afoldable transport container 20, whereby the lateral wall parts 11, 11a, 12, 12 a are at a 90° angle to the interior surface of the bottom 13of the transport container 20. In the upper area the two lateral wallparts 12 and 12 a have handle recesses 14, 14 a that facilitate ease oftransport for the transport container system. Such handle recesses 14,14 a are also conceivable in the two lateral wall parts 11 and 11 a;however these are not shown for reasons of greater clarity. Furthermore,FIG. 1 a illustrates the frame-shaped top 30, which is placed on thelateral walls 11, 11 a, 12, 12 a in a shape-conforming manner. The top30, which conforms to the transport container 20, likewise comprises twolargely parallel lateral wall parts 15 and 15 a and two largely parallellateral wall parts 16 and 16 a. As shown in FIG. 1 a, the lateral wallparts 11, 11 a, 12, 12 a of the transport container 20 are preferablyequal in height, as are the lateral wall parts 15, 15 a, 16, 16 a of thetop 30, whereby the height of the lateral wall parts of the top 30 andof the transport container 20 are preferably different.

The lateral wall parts 11, 11 a, 12, 12 a of the transport containerterminate in a straight line in the wall area opposing the bottom 13, asillustrated in FIG. 1 a, or have a profile 21, as illustrated in FIGS.2, 5, 5 a, and 5 b. The same applies for the bottom 13 of the transportcontainer 20. In FIG. 1 a the bottom 13 is embodied in a straight line,while FIGS. 2, 5, 5 a, and 5 b show a profile 22 on the underside of thebottom 13 of the transport container 20. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 a, 2,5, 5 a, and 5 b, the profile 31 of the top 30 conforms to the lateralwall parts 11, 11 a, 12, 12 a, and the bottom 13 of the transportcontainer 20. Preferably the top 30 includes fastening means 32 that areproduced from the material of the top 30 and that detachably engage withthe preferably lattice-structured lateral wall parts 11, 11 a, 12, 12 aof the transport container 20 (FIGS. 2, 3 a, 5, 5 a, and 5 b). A latticestructure of the external wall surfaces, which increases stability ofthe walls under pressure, is not illustrated in order that the drawingsbe clear and simple. The fastening means 32 can be produced from anyother material than the top or the transport container. Preferably thetransport container 20 or the top 30 has a counterpiece 23 to thefastening means 32 with which the fastening means 32 detachably engage.Particularly preferred, the fastening means 32 are attached to the top30 and detachably engage with the lateral wall parts 11, 11 a, 12, 12 aor the bottom 13 of the transport container 20. In another embodiment(FIG. 3 b), the fastening means are joined to the transport container 20and detachably engage with the lateral wall parts 15, 15 a, 16, 16 a ofthe top 30.

FIG. 3 a illustrates fastening means 32 that are attached to the top 30and that detachably engage with the lateral wall surface of thetransport container 20. In this exemplary embodiment, a hook-shapedfastening means is illustrated that detachably engages in the latticestructure of the wall surface of the transport container 20. Theprofile-conforming design of the top 30 as illustrated in FIG. 2, aswell as the manner in which the top 30 detachably engages with thetransport container 20 using fastening means 32, facilitates theadvantageous stackability of the transport container systems 10.

FIG. 4 a illustrates the inventive top 30 when folded. The top 30 canassume two different physical shapes, either collapsed to save room fortransport to the site at which the top 30 will be used (FIG. 4 a) orunfolded in the frame-shaped embodiment (FIG. 4 b) in which the top 30is a component of the transport container system.

The embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 4 b and 5 have fold lines 18 in thecorner areas of the top 30 that facilitate folding the top 30. Oncefolded, the lateral wall 15 of the top 30 borders on the lateral wall 16and comes in contact with the lateral walls 16 a and 15 a. Cornerstiffeners 17 promote the stability of the top 30 when the top 30 is inthe unfolded frame-shape. These corner stiffeners 17 are preferablyattached in all four corners.

FIG. 1 b and FIG. 4 a illustrate that in addition to the top 30, thetransport container 20 of the transport container system 10 also comesin two physical shapes. So that the transport container system 10 ispresent in the optimum space-saving shape for use during transport, thetop 30 is removed from the transport container 20 and the top 30 and thetransport container 20 are placed in the folded or collapsed condition.At the utilization site for the transport container system 10, the topis unfolded, the foldable transport container 20 is opened up, and thetop 30 is detachably engaged with the non-foldable or foldable transportcontainer 20. The top 30 now leads to the desired enlargement of thevolume capacity of the transport container 20, this providing optimumutilization of the volume capacity of the transport container 20. Theheight for the top that is available in different heights at theutilization site can be selected that ensures optimum filling of thetransport container system 10 given some non-optimum size of thetransport container 20 present.

FIG. 5 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of an inventive top,whereby only one fastening means 32 is attached to each of the sides 15,15 a, 16, 16 a. As FIGS. 5 a and 5 b illustrate, each of the fasteningmeans is attached in the center of the sides 15, 15 a and/or 16, 16 a.

1. Top for a transport container system comprising a non-foldable orfoldable crate which has a rectangular bottom and four rigid lateralwalls adjoining the bottom and defining a rectangular opening in a planeparallel to the opening, the top comprising four rigid lateral wallsconnected in the configuration of a rectangular frame of sufficientstrength to permit transport container stacking and defining an openingmatching the opening of the crate, whereby the top is configured foraugmenting height of the crate thereby to increase volumetric capacityof the container system, the top having a respective fold line at eachcorner thereof and being foldable along the fold lines into a compactconfiguration when not in use.
 2. Top according to claim 1, wherein thetop is dimensioned so as to fit on a crate of dimensions that fit a EUROpalette.
 3. Top according to claim 1, wherein the lateral walls of thetop each have an irregular edge for being received in mating engagementwith irregular edges of the lateral walls of the crate thereby toprovide stable stackability of a plurality of transport containers. 4.Transport container system comprising a top according to claim 1, andfasteners attached to the top for engagement with the lateral walls ofthe crate.
 5. Top according to claim 1, wherein the lateral walls arecomprised of cardboard and are 3 to 10 cm high.
 6. Top according toclaim 1, wherein the lateral walls are 3 to 6 cm high.